Page 170 of The Black Trilogy

“They played some little security game yesterday, and it didn’t go so well.”

Mark dragged his gaze upwards. “Didn’t go well is the understatement of the year.”

“In what way?” Luke asked.

“At first, everything went to plan. We caught one terrorist at the entrance, and when he took a WPC hostage, we talked him down and arrested him. Except it turned out he was just a distraction for a bunch more bad guys to sneak in around the back.”

Even to Luke’s untrained ears, that sounded like a big problem. “What happened next?”

“Carnage. Pure carnage. Then it got worse. At the debrief in the conference hall, the dude playing the prime minister turned over the lectern he was speaking at and showed us the bomb built into the bottom of it.” Mark leaned forward and smacked his head against the table. “We’d completely missed it.”

“At least it didn’t go off.”

Rob half groaned, half snorted. “Our superiors didn’t see it that way. And once the fake prime minister finished berating us for that error, someone shot him in the chest with a paintball. They had a sniper hidden inside the suspended ceiling at the back of the hall, and we hadn’t checked it properly.”

“And just to emphasise our utter incompetence, the gunman escaped before we could catch him,” Mark finished up.

Luke couldn’t help laughing, earning him dirty looks from his two friends. Before he got a thump in the arm, he checked his watch and pushed back his chair.

“Time to head over the road. We don’t want to be late.”

“I’m not sure I want to go anymore,” Rob muttered. “I can’t face anyone from Blackwood without wanting to sink into the floor.”

Luke took hold of his arm and pulled him up. “You’ve dragged me away from a comfy sofa, and I’ve been living on rabbit food all week to fit into this penguin suit. We’re darn well going.”

Not to mention that when Luke checked the TV schedule earlier, there wasn’t anything on worth watching. He didn’t want to go home to sit through a reality show marathon again.

“And the tickets are like gold dust,” Chris added.

“I’m only going for the alcohol,” Rob said, sighing like a drama queen.

Right, time to get this over with. Mark finished his drink, and the four left the bar.

The drinks reception was in full swing when they reached the Black Diamond. The security staff on the door peered closely at their tickets and checked for ID. No doubt Blackwood had provided the four giants crammed into surprisingly well-fitted suits.

Inside the modern bar, gaggles of people stood around, cocktails in hand, chatting and laughing. An old pro at networking, Luke dove right in out of habit. He’d had to learn the art of meaningless small talk fast after his father died and he’d been forced to take over HC Systems. After half an hour, he’d spoken to fifteen people and had the pocketful of business cards to prove it.

The crowd proved to be a little different to the usual, though. Yes, Luke spoke to several captains of industry, a well-known football player, and an actress, but he also met a schoolteacher, two nurses, and a soldier. Every one of them brimmed with enthusiasm over the mentoring scheme, leaving Luke keen to hear more.

As a small woman with a big voice flitted from group to group, asking people to take their seats, Luke took a chance to admire his surroundings. The hotel was one of the nicer establishments he’d visited, the décor stark yet expensive. Abstract paintings added a splash of colour to the black and white theme in the bar.

The ballroom was done out just as tastefully. Purple orchids graced glass vases in the centre of each table, and the waitresses wore matching flowers in their hair. Luke slid into his seat next to Rob as the servers brought out warm bread rolls.

Perhaps this wasn’t so bad, after all.

“I’m nipping out to the bar,” Mark said. “I hardly got a wink of sleep after the disaster yesterday, and if I don’t get a Red Bull, I’ll be snoring in my soup.”

Luke knew how he felt, except it had been thoughts of a certain brunette that kept him awake. “Make that two.”

“Sure thing.”

Ten minutes later, Mark returned with the drinks but without his colour. Luke had never seen anyone so white.

“What’s up?” he asked. “You look as if you’ve seen Hugh Hefner in a bikini.”

“Emerson Black’s here.”

Rob’s eyes widened. “Are you sure? I mean, we don’t even know what she looks like.”

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